Basic Information on Introducing Companies

Company Name: Shinomiya Farm
Number of employees: 1
Yield: 6 tons (1,200 m2)
Farmland area (strawberries): 1,200 m2
Product purchase date｜Type:
June 2020｜Orgamin 5L
January 2021｜Orgamin 10L
September 2021｜Orgamin 10L
February 2022｜Orgamin 10L
Product use location: 1-6 Minamisawa, Higashikurume-shi, Tokyo 203-0023
Crops: strawberries, melons, grapes, mangoes, corn, etc.
Main customers: JA Tokyo Mirai
Subject: Increasing Yield
SNS: Instagram

Basic information on interviewees

Seiko Ecologia Mitsuoka：When did Mr. Shinomiya start growing strawberries?

Shinomiya：I started growing strawberries in my late thirties, and this year will be my twentieth year. In my first year, I didn't know what I was doing, so I bought seedlings and started growing strawberries, and in my second year, I started from seedling production, but I made a big mistake when half of the seedlings I produced turned out to have anthracnose.

Seiko Ecologia Mitsuoka: How did you rebuild after experiencing failure?

Mr. Shinomiya：Just as I was thinking, "I need to study this thoroughly," an article in an agricultural newspaper caught my eye, "Mashiko Strawberry Complex to be held from today," which led me to Mashiko Town, Tochigi Prefecture. While picking strawberries in a greenhouse at the strawberry farm, I took a tour of the greenhouses, and one sparkling, well-managed greenhouse caught my eye. When I asked the lady in the greenhouse if she could teach me how to grow seedlings for strawberry production in Tokyo, she replied, "There is no need to grow strawberries in Tokyo. She was turned away by the lady and told, "You don't need to grow strawberries in Tokyo, it's too much work.

Seiko Ecologia Mitsuoka: It's not so easy...

Ms. Shinomiya：Yes. But I thought it would be a waste to just go home, so I was sitting alone at a direct sales place in Mashiko Town when a man happened to walk by and said to me, "Strawberry picking is over now. I told him what had happened so far, and he said, "Did you disinfect them properly? I told him that I had not disinfected the area enough. When I asked him to teach me how to grow strawberries, he said, "Can you come? You", I told him, "I will! I told him. While we were talking like that, an auntie came walking from the other side. She said, "Hey, what's that? I thought, "She looks like the auntie I saw earlier," and she said, "Dad, let's go home now. I knew it was the auntie I had talked to earlier at the house. She said to me, "You're still here, aren't you? In the meantime, the old man said, "I'll listen to what you have to say, so come to my house..." (laugh). I thought I had met a really good person. From that moment on, I started commuting to Mashiko Town. It costs a lot of money to drive on the highway, so I took the expressway to Mashiko. I have known this producer for about 18 years.

Seiko Ecologia Mitsuoka：Can you tell us what you liked about the actual strawberry training program in Mashiko Town, Tochigi Prefecture?

Ms. Shinomiya：I think it is the amount of information available. Of course, there are dissemination centers and other information sources in Tokyo as well. However, it sometimes takes about a week to get an answer after submitting homework.... If that is the case, I think it would be better to learn directly in Tochigi Prefecture, a major strawberry production area, to obtain a large amount of information. In fact, I sometimes received thick pamphlets of strawberry workshops in Tochigi Prefecture from growers (laughs).

In fact, young prospective farmers from Tokyo who want to become strawberry growers are now coming to our farm for training. I am teaching them my know-how and techniques without having to go to Tochigi Prefecture. I teach them everything, from seedling cultivation to everything from 1 to 10. I want them to become real strawberry farmers. I think that is my role. I tell them, "Start with soil cultivation. After about three years of soil cultivation, they should decide whether they want to switch to upland cultivation when they have a certain degree of understanding of the cultivation method. This is because the cost of equipment for upland cultivation is high, and once you start, it is difficult to stop. With soil cultivation, you can stop even in the middle of cultivation. That is why we recommend soil cultivation as a first step. Now, little by little, the number of strawberry farmers is increasing in the west, starting from our farm. I would like to increase the number of strawberry farmers as much as possible while I am involved in strawberry cultivation.